The Fall in the Wild

Moving on up - to ALASKA

It is PCS season for the Benefields. We are moving from the political jungle of Washington DC to the final frontier of Alaska. It is the adventure of five lifetimes and we are well on our way!
Military families expect to move every three years and leave good friends behind.  When you leave a military community, there are sad goodbyes, but a lot of understanding based on the common experience of moving every couple of years. When a military family leaves a civilian community, there are sad goodbyes and it is not part of a common shared experience.  As we prepared to leave, I began to worry about how some of our friends were taking the departure of our family. I think the only thing that allowed some of them to cope with our move is they almost as happy to see me go as they were sad to see Cammie and the kids leave - that's just a theory, but a good one.
The good-byes were long and tearful and I began watching everybody who came by the house very closely to make sure nobody was going to chain themselves to our minivan or kidnap any of our children to delay our PCS. While watching all these goodbyes that I imagined to be the most emotional event since the premier screening of Old Yeller, I realized that I was a little desensitized to the emotions of moving. The day prior, I had said goodbye to our close friends the Roserberrys, who were stationed with us in Louisiana. Our goodbyes were along the lines of, "I'll see you on Facebook, Rhonda. See ya, Ryan. Come visit." No tears and a couple of brief hugs. We will see each other again.  I won't miss them less than our neighbors will miss my family, but I learned what a difference experience and expectations make.
Another thing on my mind during all the goodbyes were all the things we still needed to accomplish. Sixteen hours out from our flight and we still had things in the refrigerator, had not packed our bags, and I had to do something with my car. Those of you who know me know how much fun I was to be around while this was weighing on me.  I tried to relax, but I had to pray through this in order to not have a stroke.
We got back to our hotel room sometime around 2130 and got the kids in bed as quickly as possible. Cammie starting setting stuff aside to donate to Goodwill and throwing stuff away. I took the lead in organizing the bags after she had them mostly packed so we would be sure not to have more than we could carry through the airport. I laid two bags by each person's clothes for the next day.  By 2300, we were somewhat ready, but we had two hampers and three boxes of stuff that we had to dispose of.  Our neighbor volunteered to help us with that so I planned to take all the stay behind stuff to her house the next morning while I handed over the keys to my car.
The small drama over the fate of my old car Blue had an unusual, but happy ending. While preparing our house to turn over to our landlords, I explained to a man I had just met, Coach Mac, the dilemma of what to do with my Fairlane while I lived in Alaska.  I did not have the means to get the car to South Carolina or Alabama, where I had volunteers to store her, and get myself back to DC to fly out to Alaska. The Army would not allow me to fly out from Atlanta, so I was a bit stuck.  I could not get Blue to Alaska without great expense and time, neither of which I could afford. The gentleman looked at me and said, "I would love to have your car." I asked how much he would pay for it and he hesitated a minute, but I made a quick counter offer. "How would you feel about buying it from me and agreeing to sell it back in three years?" He liked that deal so much that a tear came to his eye. Actually, a few tears came to his eye, but it was from happiness. For $1.00, I sold my beloved old car to a Christian brother who is already using the attention that car draws to talk to people about Jesus. I told him that it would be fine with me to update the Ten Commandments license plate with something more New Testament and he teared up again.  We established a handover time of 0730 the morning of 25 September to complete the transaction.
We now had a great plan for 25 September. A 0700 wake up for the family. I would have donuts from Dunkin in the room when they wake up for motivation. Then, I would be off to drop the stay behind package at the neighbor's, hand over Blue's keys to Coach Mac, and then return to the room for a 0900 shuttle ride to the airport. A perfect plan, until.....
At 0550 in the morning, my cell phone went off and I got there in time to see an 800 number that I thought was a telemarketer. But, telemarketer's don't leave voice mails and this caller did. I checked the voice mail and heard United Airlines tell me that my flight, "has been affected by a cancellation." What in the world did that mean? Did they cancel the in flight movie or my flight? I called the reservation number and found out that our nice 1245 flight was canceled. The only flight from Dulles that would make our connection to Alaska was a 0930 flight. Three hours cut out of our perfect plan, but it was our only option. I had the lady switch all five of us to the 0930 flight and she confirmed we were all re-booked.
So, Cammie and I huddled and issued a quick FRAGO. I was immediately off to drop the stay behind package, text Coach Mac to have him meet me at the hotel instead of my house, re-schedule the hotel shuttle for 0715, and bring back donuts. Cammie would wake the kids and pillow pets and get all the luggage on a cart.  It was now 0615 and we had one hour to execute.
I returned to the hotel at 0655 and saw our cab driver waiting in the lobby (it was too early for the shuttle),  a fully loaded luggage cart in the room, three dressed kids, and a wife who I was extremely proud of - Cammie does not like to be rushed, but she responded like a paratrooper.
At 0705, Coach Mac texted from the parking lot and was there to take custody of Blue. God was smiling on us and everything was going on time. I gave Coach Mac the car and our last two Dunkin Donuts and we exchanged a good strong Christian handshake to seal the deal.  I cried a little as my car pulled away, but then I remembered there are always reunions!
At 0714, I walked back into the hotel and saw our luggage cart getting off the elevator.  I was proud of my family for pulling this off. The gentleman driving our cab wanted our kids to ride two to a seat to make room for the luggage, so I had to send him to the driver's seat while I loaded the luggage and the family to meet Virginia safety laws and Mommy Benefield's standards. All my years of hauling hay paid off that day and every bag was secure and every Benefield had their own seat belt on the way to the airport.  And just to reassure my old hay hauling buddies, there was nothing tied to the top of the mini-van taxi - we got it all inside.
We arrived at the airport a little early because, well, because I don't trust the people who work for United or at Dulles to be efficient.  My suspicions were somewhat confirmed when we checked in and found that the reservation agent had only re-booked Cammie and the kids. I was still on the canceled flight. The agent who helped us at the airport was grumpy due to a barking dog, but she was very efficient (my kind of people). She got us seats somewhat together with time to mosey through security.
After we checked our bags, I gathered the family for another FRAGO on security procedures. After the brief, tThe kids acknowledged that they would empty their pockets, take off their shoes, remove their belts, and James acknowledged that he WOULD NOT get naked as we passed through security. I have seen a lot of families go through the security line and I think we might have the Dulles record for a family of five. It was like an OPFOR battle drill. Again, I was proud of my crew.
With all the focus on getting to the airport, we had not really talked much about the flight for a few days. So, we assembled at the gate for a refresher on Benefield flight procedures. It was a pretty simple brief- if any of my children misbehaved on the flight or deliberately caused a scene, there would be several consequences. The first infraction would cause Santa Clause to strike them from his list. Any misbehavior beyond that and I would start giving away their favorite toys.  If it got really bad, I would issue them prison clothes and make their rooms in Alaska look like prison cells until they were properly rehabilitated. My kids were under a lot of stress, but this was not time to tolerate bad behavior.
Deterrence worked! My kids were excited, but well behaved on the plane. As the plane took off, Jay Allen yelled, "YEAH, BABY!" James yelled out, "I berlieve I can fly!" Jay Allen couldn't get enough - he wanted to "blast off" instead of "take off".  Carlie was quietly just as excited, and all together, we are quite a comedy show.  We should have charged all those laughing passengers for the extra entertainment.  Watching my three kids, it is easy to forget that many people are scared of flying. 
When we got to Chicago, we had an almost five hour layover. We learned from friends in Alaska that there was a huge earthquake there while we were flying, but no significant damage. I could only think that was a warm up for what James would bring to the state. We ate lunch and tried to contain our children, but they spent almost all of their good behavior.  We loaded the plane just before Santa had to get his red pen out.
As we boarded the plane, I pointed out to James a gentlemen wearing a sweatshirt from the Arkansas Razorbacks, Alabama's opponent that day. I planted an idea in his head and was proud of James when we boarded the plane. The Arkansas fan was sitting in the first seat we passed and James stopped and said, "YOU ARE GOING DOWN, PORK CHOP! ROLL TIDE!" The guy in the sweatshirt and all the surrounding passengers really enjoyed that - more than the game as it would turn out.

The flight to the final frontier was long and a bit challenging. The first challenge was that the movie was supposed to be the Karate Kid. The kids were sorely disappointed when the movie turned out to be the Grownups, but being the veteran parents we are, we had video games and activity books on hand for plan B.  
My kids are just not normal and do not have many fears (flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz withstanding). On the flight into Anchorage, we had the worst turbulence I have ever experienced on a commercial flight.  It was so bad I was looking for the yellow oxygen masks and I think I saw the tail of the plane pass the nose once. Jay Allen slept through it and Carlie and James laughed and cheered the worse it got.  This was quite a contrast to the tense atmosphere created by the other passengers, who were gasping, crossing themselves, and praying up a storm. I was worried that some of the terrified passengers were going to yell at my kids, but none did. I was strangely amused and worried at the same time, but again, proud of my kids for being so fearless.  Different experience and different expectations showed themselves again.

Airport Bear

When we landed, we snapped a couple of pictures with the stuffed bears in the airport and then ran over to reunite with our friends the Sanders, who were with us in Louisiana, too. See what I mean about military farewells - there are always reunions.
The Sanders brought our new vehicle, THE BEAST, to the airport for us so we were instantly mobile.  The BEAST is an 1984 Surburban that the kids have already embraced as the family vehicle. I bought it off Craig's List for a very small sum, but I have doubled my investment since adding snow tires and replacing the battery and alternator.  I am going to have to buy jumper cables and remember to carry warming blankets in the car in case it ever has issues again, but still, it is a rolling playground par excellence.  

The BEAST

The Alaskans told us to be thankful we got to Alaska before it got cold. It was 28 degrees our first morning here. I am sure glad it was not cold! MERCY!

Alaska is a different planet. There are Eskimos and Russians and all kinds of different flavors of people and creatures here. Moose crossing signs and public service announcements to stay away from bears are common. There are also signs everywhere reminding you that, "It is illegal to feed foxes." Cammie is going to starve!

But alas, I did feed Cammie and did so at the Snow City Cafe in Anchorage for our first meal in Alaska. It was the absolute best breakfast we have ever eaten and well worth the car payment it cost!  I have never had a crab omelet before, but it was number one!  All the kids had hot chocolate and Cammie had a fru fru coffee that she thoroughly enjoyed. The only uncomfortable part of breakfast was trying to keep James from talking about the host's many piercings. He had a nose ring that I almost convinced myself was there so he could be pulled through the snow in case he slid off the road into a ditch.

Snow City

As we spent our first full day in Alaska, we discovered that every Alaskan works for the tourism bureau, or at least it seems like it. Alaskans love their state like southern folk love their SEC football. I am not exaggerating. The welcome wagon overwhelmed us many times over and we loved it (still loving it).

The big kids are now Birchwood Mustangs and James is Little Lamb of Peace, the name of the Lutheran pre-school. Carlie and Jay Allen have a PE teacher named Mr. Armstrong and they are already signed up for a 3k and 1k race respectively. Mr. Armstrong told us about the ice skating and cross country skiing and came just short of saying, "I have the coolest adult job ever!"
So, the Benefields are braving the final frontier and already going native. I caught myself on the phone today saying, "That's not too cold," when my buddy told me that it would only get down to single digits here in the winter. To go native faster, I think we will go see what an Alaskan football game looks like this Friday.  The Chugiak High School Mustangs are in the football playoffs and from what I hear, we have more people working in our concession stands at high school games in Alabama than they have in the stands here. I am really hoping for a moose to run on the field - nothing would please my kids more!